Posted on 04/27/2016 6:10:02 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Same. Worked at a snack shop at a ball diamond from 10 years old to 15 (ahhhh - child labor) with no registers or calculators of any kind. The calculators started popping up about the time I left (this was 30 years ago).
With the use of calculators, students today think they have no need to learn basic math.
While teaching physical science to ninth graders about 15 years ago, I was astounded to learn that they were totally incapable of performing short division without the calculator. When I demonstrated long division on the chalk board, many of them acted as if I has started speaking in a foreign language. They truly had never even heard of the concept.
And I hasten to add that I let the classes know that I was sympathetic to their fear of math. I told them that I am a math moron — which is true — and I was extremely patient with them. But their lack of basic math knowledge shocked even me.
I suggest abandoning the weasel-words "college ready", and replacing them with "college able".
The fraction of the college able is probably around 10% of white 18-year olds, when more than this go to college, the whole system deteriorates (as it is doing before our eyes).
I’m beginning to think that math deficiency is the fault of the K-12 education and not anything else.
***
Retired teacher here. I agree wholeheartedly.
Math, BTW, has always been very difficult for me. Physics nearly killed me.
I want to take your class!
We share similar experiences and backgrounds. As a chemistry major I managed to get through calculus with a B, but never considered myself fluent in math. But I didn’t have a calculator in college, just a slide rule which did not give me the sig figs I needed for homework (so I did long division routinely) but which was acceptable for calculations during exams.
Many of my students use graphing calculators but seem to be clueless as to how to correctly input data into them. No clue as to how to input scientific notation numbers for instance. I suggest they purchase a simple scientific calculator for $10, much simpler to use, and then it’s up to me to show them how to use even these.
But of course setting up the problems correctly first, then doing the calculations, is essential. Again another brick wall.
I know the males in such a class would be in for a rude awakening. Most I expect would emphasize guns over butter. That strategy might work for some, not for others. The possibilities are endless.
You can imagine my surprise on learning about the Duke of Marlborough. A dream of mine is to spend 2-3 months in Germany and rent an apartment in/near Traben-Trarbach. There is so much history in that small area, it's fascinating. Tuesday-Friday would be set aside for trips to Amsterdam, Munich, Oberammergau, etc. while the weekends would be for Mosel winefests.
Yes, I have come to the same conclusion, especially after talking to K-12 teachers. Some teachers (a small group) are incompetent themselves. Others tell me they have received pressure from the division office to dumb down the math being taught to insure high graduation rates. Advanced placement sections have also been eliminated in many schools.
Check the demographics. There’s your answer.
you can’t do math without doing homework - kids (mostly) don’t do homework these days.
how many HS grads know something as simple as the multiplication tables??
It's tough - I get where your wife is coming from.
Any minority child can learn if they are taught properly (as in the older ways). Neither race nor culture has anything to do with the individual child’s basic ability. It’s not rocket science, but basic math.
You should be home schooling your son. Given your passion for history you would impart so much to him.
I taught algebra for years at a small private school and I loved every minute of it. It was the old fashioned teaching- I was the boss and they weren’t! But I made algebra fun (really!!!) So they wanted to learn.
But the two years I taught my son are my favorite memories. I loved Saxon math and would have used the entire curriculum had I continued to homeschool.
And he is now a college graduate, working towards his master’s, full time employee, conservative, and soon to be husband. To a delightful woman!!!(need to clarify in 2016 lol)
So all those naysayers when we announced homeschooling are strangely silent now!!!
I know a little about the Marlboroughs of Blenheim from “The Last Lion” Great book about Winston!!
It was fun at other jobs when the electricity was out
..I was the only on able to make change. Or teaching a student years later how to make change for the lottery sales because there was no register.
My grandson enters kindergarten in August, but with him, it will be to keep him from being bored.
This is the PC response. You should read Charles Murray and others. IQ is a product of both genetics and environment. Culture has plenty to do with school performance. Why are Asians generally doing so well in school? Better than whites and other minorities.
The quality of the teachers, the schools, and interest of the parents factor into performance. So do pre-natal care and medical conditions and substance abuse of the mothers. Living in single parent households in crime and drug infested neighborhoods also play a part.
Race and culture play a role whether you accept it or not. And not just in America, but globally. Western civilization has provided a far more fertile environment for scholarship and achievement than the tribalism that pervades Africa and other places.
Ahhh grandchildren! Someday I hope to be so blessed!
Your grandson has a wonderful grandfather in you ...to be willing to teach and spend time which is all they want. Less technology-more imaginative play!
I didn’t have grandparents. Thus I plan to be the grandmother I would have wanted for myself. I am practicing on my delightful little neighbors!
They just have not been properly trained in their schooling before they get to you.
This generation, in general, has missed out on the whole idea of problem-solving in everyday situations, let alone solving mathematical problems. I blame that on the fact that they are not given the freedom to actually go outside and play with a bunch of other kids, climb trees, build stuff, etc.
Instead they are dumped into daycare at 6 weeks of age and institutionalized for the the next 18 or so years.
You can get rich asking for a roll of quarters with your change.
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